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Monday, 30 January 2017

I headed down to Cancon this Saturday, and a brief report will follow, including the obligatory bloggers meet-up photo. However I also found time to play more Galleys and Galleons this weekend, choosing to play rather than photograph and blog reports. But I took a couple of photos of two of the three games. In the first a pair of pirate ships attacked a small fort, but were themselves attacked by a ghostly galleon. Both pirate ships escaped, although one didn't manage to leave by the designated exit area, so didn't count for points. The other lost a chunk of rigging, but evaded the galleon by virtue of being able to apply a speed boost from the razee ability.

I actually ran the ghostly galleon with the Unorthodox movement ability, which meant that it needed actions to move and its speed was unpredictable, but that it wasn't worried about the wind direction. It made for an interesting matchup.

Yesterday evening I tried out some more lacepulp stuff, as the Laputan navy took on a force of Chinese pirates. The Laputans had a dirigible bomber, an ironclad galleon and, of course, their flying island. The Chinese had a couple of war-junks, and three man-carrying kites, rated as square-rigged airships with very, very low C values. Two of the kites were equipped with derring-do swashbucklers, which would give them a single decent boarding action apiece, whilst the third was equipped with rockets (rated as a fiery attack). The junks were pretty much straight from the book. You can see everything in action here.

The wind shifted badly against the Chinese, which meant that they couldn't bring their kites into the attack. The assault kites were fully capable of capturing the Island of Laputa, if they could get close enough, but they couldn't. They were shot out of the sky one after the other by the island's massive gun-batteries. However the junks worked upwind and were able to attack and capture the ironclad galleon. One of the junks was lost in the fight, but the other then proceeded to hit the dirigible bomber with a lucky shot which saw it explode. With just a junk on one side and the flying island on the other, I reasoned that the Chinese would run for home, but the junk had to slip past the island first. The two models traded broadsides, and two lucky hits saw the Island of Laputa crippled and on fire. As the junk sailed for safety, the island crashed into the sea and was lost.

I didn't get any pictures of the other game I played, but it was a rerun of the fight between Henry Avery and the Mughal Fleet. I upgraded the pirate ships to have chasers, whilst the Mughals were dropped to lateen-rigged, but added in two extra ships. The fight started well for the pirates, with Avery diving boldly into the midst of the Mughal fleet, causing it to break up in confusion. However as he turned to exploit his advantage, a lucky shot from one of the smallest merchant ships started a fire, and his ship exploded. The other two pirates did the best they could, and caused damage throughout the fleet, but the Mughals made their escape mostly intact, having sunk one pirate and forcing the other to flee the action in confusion.

Since I know people will ask, here's the Island of Laputa in all its glory. It's a 3D printed castle hex-tile, with a rocky underside made from pieces of cork tile, and the whole thing mounted on a flying stand made from a clear plastic pot. I have used the lid of the pot as the basic stand, for when it is a sea-level, and can then put the lid on the pot itself for high-altitude action.

With a low Q value, the Flagship ability at least means that the island gets to do something each turn. The Heavy Bow and Stern Chasers means that it has a decent all-round firing capability, assuming it gets the actions to do it. It's not fast, nor is it maneuverable, but it can just aim for a point on the table and then sit there taking on all-comers.

Friday, 27 January 2017

The first raiders rush ashore, but the villagers see them off with spear and bow.

But more raiders attack. The village put up a desperate defence. Many raiders fall. More villager fall.

The village burns.

But the island shakes. The sea boils ...

... and a mighty Shachihoko appears to avenge the fishermen.

It lunges forward, crushing one of the ships beneath its massive body.

It's fearsome jaws destroy a second.

The third ship attempts to escape, but soon the monster is on them as well. They fight back, and wound it with arrows, but its jaws snap left and right and soon the crew of that ship are devoured.

The village is avenged, and the Sachihoko returns beneath the waves.

This is the 'Release the Kraken' scenario from the main Galleys and Galleons rules, and was a chance to try out the rules for both Bastions and Creatures. The attackers must destroy a fort in the centre of the table, which will trigger the appearance of a creature. They must then get as many ships off the board as they can. In this game they got the fort, but none of them escaped.

In fact my Bastion was a little non-standard, in that it had no ranged weapons beyond small-arms. But then neither did the attackers. I allowed ships to grapple the island, and launch boarding actions against the village, and that seemed to work OK, representing landing parties in an effective, playable but abstract way.

Village- Q4 C2 - Bastion, Unarmed, Veteran NCOs, Marksmen - 27pts
(The Veteran NCOs and Marksmen represent them defending their village from the walls. Marksmen was horribly effective, and I may give the Reinforced Hull if I did this again, so they have defence against small arms)

Raiders - Q3 C3 - Square Rig, Sweeps, Unarmed, Shallow Draft, Intimidating - 36pts
(Shallow Draft was a given, seeing as the ships had to run right up to the land. And, yes, they are Viking ships. I was going to add an extra bit to the story about them being lost Vikings, but they can just as easily be local pirates/raiders))

The Shachihoko - Q4 C4 - Creature, Submersible, Intimidating, Reinforced Hull, Ramming - 83pts
(The Shachihoko is a real creature from Japanese folklore, although I'm not sure they are as monstrous as the one in this scenario. It is a creature with the body of a carp and the head of a tiger, and figures of them are often used as decorations on the eaves of buildings as they are said to have magical powers to control water and defend against fire. If you made this a magical creature, it would probably be a hydromancer.)

And the most important feature of this game? It is the first I've played where all of the figures were 3D printed.

Thursday, 26 January 2017

Henry Avery, known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates was the most notorious pirate of his time. Dubbed "The Arch Pirate" and "The King of Pirates" by contemporaries, he earned his fame by becoming one of the few major pirate captains to retire with his loot without being arrested or killed in battle. He was also responsible for what was probably the most profitable raid in pirate history.

Born in England, around 1659, her briefly served in the Navy then aboard a slave-ship, before becoming a privateer in the service of Spain. When the Spaniards failed to pay the crew's wages, they mutinied, elected Avery as their captain, renamed their ship the Fancy and took the the high seas as pirates.

By 1695 Avery was operating in the Indian Ocean. Now in nominal command of a flotilla of six vessels, he headed to the Arabian Sea, to intercept the treasure fleet of the Grand Mughal which was on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. This fleet consisted of some 25 ships, including the massive Ganj-i-sawai, which mounted between 60 and 80 guns and carried hundreds of soldiers. As Avery's ships approached the fleet scattered into the night. Avery pursued, some of his ships falling behind and taking no further part in the enterprise. Eventually he caught up with the Fateh Muhammed, which was captured fairly easily, before then taking on the Ganj-i-sawai. In a bold attack, supported by another ship, the Pearl, Avery took the Mughal vessel in a two-hour fight. An orgy of rape, torture and slaughter of the crew and several hundred passengers ensued, at the end of which Avery had secured treasure to the value of what would now be over 50 million pounds.

The Great Mughal was outraged, and the English government and East India Company put a huge price on Avery's head in what was possibly the first ever global manhunt. Avery evaded capture, however, and retired to an unknown location. His final fate, and that of his treasure, is unknown.

Avery's attack on the Mughal fleet seemed to be a great little action to play out with Galleys and Galleons and my new pirate ships. I decided to tweak history a little, and condense the attacks on the Fateh Muhammed and Ganj-i-sawai onto the same table. I reality they'd really be individual actions.

It would seem, from what limited information I can glean, that the Mughal ships would have been large dhows (very large; the Ganj-i-sawai was around 1600 tons), and would probably have had lateen rigs. I went with galleon rigs for the points, but if you chose to reduce them to lateen-rigged you could add a fourth ship with the same stats as the Baghlah Surat.

The Mughals set up in a corner first, with their goal being to exit off the opposite corner. They would get 4 points if the Ganj-i-sawai escaped, 3 for the Fateh Muhammed and 2pts for the Baghlah Surat. Destroying or capturing Avery's ship was worth 2pts and the other two pirate ships were worth 1pt each.

Avery's ships set up in an adjacent corner. The Fancy and Portsmouth Adventure set course to intercept the treasure ships towards the centre of the table, whilst the Pearl was to work around behind them and maybe pick off the weaker Baghlah Surat.

The pirates would score 4pts if they could capture the Ganj-i-sawai, or force it to run aground. They would get 3pts for the Fateh Muhammed and 2 points for the Baghlah Surat. If a Mughal ship left the table at any point other than their designated exist point, the the pirates would score 2pts if it was the Ganj-i-sawai, and 1pt each for the others.

The Mughals kept their line early on but reduced sail in order to force the pirates to show their hand before the treasure ships were committed to passing between the two reefs towards the centre of the table. The pirates moved forward to cover the gap.

The Pearl also worked into a good position to the rear of the Mughal line.

The Mughal force broke up. The Baghlah Surat turned to pass north of the reef and avoid the two main pirate ships altogether. The other two ships turned to pass south of the reef, shaving it close in order to avoid the pirates cutting in from two sides.

The problem for the pirates was timing. Despite being merchant ships, the Mughal vessels were still fairly powerful, and could only be taken down either by extremely good luck, or by the combined efforts of at least two pirate vessels. This meant that any attacks - especially boarding attempts - would have to go in simultaneously. Avery had Derring Do, of course, which could reduce the odds in his favour in one round of combat only.

The Pearl opened fire. Gunnery was to be mostly ineffective in this game.

And now the luck of the game took hold. The pirates were moving in cautiously, in order to avoid being raked by the larger Mughal ships. However the wind shifted counter-clockwise, leaving the pirates having to now work upwind to their prizes. A series of failed activation rolls on both sides saw the pirates immobile with the Mughals unwilling to try their guns.

The Fateh Muhammed had now worked past the pirates altogether. Avery decided that it was now too risky to try and take it on and have the possibility of the larger, more valuable, Ganj-i-sawai escape. So he let it go.

Poor sailing by the Ganj-i-sawai's crew saw it in trouble between the reef and an island. In normal circumstances this wouldn't be a difficult position from which to extricate themselves, but with treasure-hungry pirates bearing down on them, there wasn't the time or space to do anything clever.

The pirates were still missing opportunities, though, as the Fancy and Portsmouth Adventure completely failed to organise a run at the floundering Ganj-i-sawai.

The Fateh Muhammed made good its escape.

Finally! The Portsmouth Adventure ran aboard the Ganj-i-sawai and grappled, hoping the the Fancy would come up in support.

It didn't, as Avery's crew blundered again.

However the Ganj-i-sawai also failed to exploit the brief advantage it had over the Portsmouth Adventure, failing to launch a boarding action of its own in response.

This time Avery didn't fail, and he grappled the mighty Mughal ship as well. His crew swept across the decks of the Ganj-i-sawai, sweeping all before them, and leaving it ripe for the taking.

All it would take was the crew of the Portsmouth Adventure to strike in support. They tried, but a dogged defence by the Mughal soldiers on board repulsed their attack, At this point the captain of the Ganj-i-sawai went for a bold move, and ordered a counter-attack. The crew of the Portsmouth Adventure were driven back with fearful casualties. Emboldened the Mughals drove back Avery's next attack as well.

The Baghlah Surat attempted to creep past the action. But to the stern of the Ganj-i-sawai, the Pearl was coming after it.

Disaster! The Ganj-i-sawai's crew cut the grapples between them and the Portsmouth Adventure, leaving the Fancy's crew fighting alone. Avery's men decided that they'd had enough, and threw down their arms.

No longer grappled, the Portsmouth Adventure turned away from the massive Mughal ship. The Mughal gunners opened fire, and reduced the pirate vessel to matchwood.

The Ganj-i-sawai was under way again. But casualties amongst its crew had been heavy, and much confusion reigned on board. An order was misunderstood ...

... and the ship was run aground on the island.

The Fancy and the grounded Ganj-i-sawai were now blocking the escape of the Baghlah Surat which had to turn across the wind to find a way past. The Pearl had been in hot pursuit, but with the fighting obviously over elsewhere its crew became confused as well, and they tried to pass to the west of the small island.

Coral ripped the bottom out of their ship, and it sank.

The Mughals won a fairly convincing victory here, picking up 6pts for escaping ships (I assumed that their final vessel got away in its own time), and 4pts for captured or destroyed pirate ships. 10 points in total. The pirates picked up 4pts for the beached Ganj-i-sawai.

With plenty of Q4 ships in play it was inevitable that there would be some awkward activation failures. In addition the fact that Avery's ships had to work upwind into the attack didn't help. The Portsmouth Adventure took a few shots as it worked in, and only some lucky defence rolls prevented it being damaged. With hindsight Avery should have kept his three ships together, using the smaller two to grapple and board the Fateh Muhammed, whilst the Fancy delayed the Ganj-i-sawai until one of the other two ships could support him. Sending the rather useless Pearl off on its own was a recipe for failure.

My favourite moments were Avery's initial sweeping clear of the Ganj-i-sawai's decks, which promised so much, and then the Ganj-i-sawai running aground after its successful escape.

I first came across this action as a scenario for Wooden Ships and Iron Men in an issue of the Avalon Hill General, but for that game it was a rather uninteresting single-ship action. These rules, with the random activation and potential for disaster on the All At Sea table made for a much more interesting version.

Tuesday, 24 January 2017

In 1685, eccentric nobleman, inventor and patron of the sciences, Sir Robert Abney was a wanted man. Implicated as a supporter of Monmouth during the rebellion against James II, his land holdings were almost certainly forfeit, and his very life in danger. He hatched a bold plan to flee the country. His salvation lay in a product of his genius - the airship gunboat Ophelia Vitrix. With a band of loyal followers, and a few refugees from the disaster at Sedgemoor, he took to the skies, and headed out to sea, bound for the safety of the Continent.

But his escape was not to be as simple as he hoped. His enemies had leaked word of his plans to the authorities, and they had reacted as swiftly as they could. The fast revenue vessel, HMS Friday was set to intercept him, along with two more unusual consorts.

As Ophelia Vitrix headed out to sea, an ornithopter flapped into view. Invented by the Dutchman, Herman Van Klunk, this machine was fast and carried small cannon fore and aft. James II had expressed an interest in purchasing some of these machines for the Royal Navy, and Van Klunk saw the interception of Sir Robert as a way of showing their capabilities.

Van Klunk was, in fact, an indifferent pilot, but another of his machines was in more capable hands. The French crown had also tested the ornithopters, and one man, the Comte de Morcerf had become uncommonly adept with them. At the controls of his machine he had waged a successful campaign against smugglers and pirates around the French coast, acquiring a nickname: The Crimson Count. Although no friend of the English, he was keen to test his machine against Abney's airship.

Sir Robert had a difficult task ahead of him. With The Crimson Count approaching from the starboard, he steered Ophelia Vitrix for a channel between two islands, dropping low in order to use them as cover from the ornithopter's guns. The Friday moved to block the exit through the channel

In danger from HMS Friday's guns, Sir Robert ordered Ophelia Vitrix to climb. The Crimson Count fired a long-range shot as the airship appeared above the rocky islet, but missed.

Although his plan was to cut across the low island with the ruined fort on it, Sir Robert observed that HMS Friday had moved too far across the channel, and swung the airship around to cut across its stern on a more direct line of escape.

The Crimson Count attempted to follow, but in his eagerness to line up another shot on the Ophelia Vitrix his ornithopter clipped a rock outcrop and suffered minor damage.

The captain of HMS Friday corrected his earlier mistake, and swung his vessel around. As the Ophelia Vitrix climbed once again the crew of the cutter fired a deadly broadside, damaging the airship's hull and rudder.

The Crimson Count struggled to control his damaged aircraft ...

... but soon brought it round in pursuit of the Ophelia Vitrix.

The Crimson Count and HMS Friday both kept pace with the airship. Meanwhile Van Klunk struggled to bring his machine in on a course to intercept Sir Robert.

Even with a damaged rudder, Sir Robert was able to turn his ship into a more favourable position with regard to the wind. Although slower than The Crimson Count's ornithopter when running before the wind, he forced the Frenchman to expend effort in controlling his craft instead of lining up shots. In addition the chase had been forced onto HMS Friday's worse point of sailing, and its crew were pushed to maximum exertion just trying to keep pace.

The Crimson Count and Ophelia Vitrix exchanged shots ...

... and as the Count moved in close Sir Robert personally put a ball through his airframe.

But as the Ophelia Vitrix headed rapidly for safety, HMS Friday managed to get close enough for another broadside, crippling the airship and shooting away some of her spars.

Sir Robert ordert the crew to make one final push for safety, but at the moment Van Klunk appeared on his starboard bow. A couple of swift shots from the ornithopter's bow gun saw more spars shot away followed by a huge gash being torn in the Ophelia Vitrix's gasbag. Sir Robert, his ship and his loyal crew crashed into the sea.

The story of how Sir Robert escaped captivity, reunited his crew, and took the repaired Ophelia Vitrix to the skies to become the world's first airship pyrate will have to wait for another day. As it was, the story of his duel with The Crimson Count was the talk of the broadsheets on both sides of the Channel for many weeks. And rightly so.

And so ended my first lacepulp game using Galleys and Galleons. I wanted to try out the rules for aerial craft which, of course, meant making some. The ornithopters were scratchbuilt from matchsticks and card, in a similar way to the WWI aircraft I have produced over the years. Ophelia Vitrix is a 3D print from this model. I cut it up to reorientate the gasbag, and added card sails.

The game was the Blockade Runner scenario from the rules. The stats for the ships are as follows:

Ophelia Vitrix was a straight pirate design and for this scenario the Swashbucklers and Derring Do are of little use. With hindsight some Bombs would be a better fit for the daring inventor's attempted escape, and would cost the same.

I made a couple of rules assumptions. Firstly I allowed Master Gunner to apply to Chasers. I can't see anything in the rules for either Chasers or Master Gunner which suggests that the bonus from the latter is not applied to the former. Secondly I allowed ornithopters to use the Reduce Sail action. Since they always move a full Long stick normally, their scope for manoeuvre is very limited indeed; being able to expend an action to move Medium instead gives them a little more flexibility.

The game showed the differences between Square and Lateen rig very nicely as well, with the wind shifting to very much disadvantage the cutter in a pursuit of the airship. I also found it amusing that the weakest vessel on the board - Van Klunk's ornithopter - was the one that delivered the finishing shot as it had spent most of the game flying around in circles far from the action and had, at one point, almost flown off the board altogether.

On the whole, the game was good fun, and actually had a delightful feel, with plodding cannon-armed air vessels fighting it out whilst having to pay attention to both altitude and wind direction.

This is my sixth recorded game of Galleys and Galleons, which means that I have completed that particular part of my Six by Six Challenge. Each of the games has tried a different aspect of the game or size of action, whilst giving me a better understanding of how the rules work.

The Stronghold Rebuilt

Officially a blog about 'Hordes Of The Things', the excellent fast-play fantasy miniatures rules from WRG. But expect minor, and not so minor diversions into other games as well, as my grasshopper-like mind leaps from one cool thing to another.

Allegedly worse than Hitler and more bigoted than The Miniatures Page. Actually not.